


Patch

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flying Doctors
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 21:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18432764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: “Not a patch on Tom Callaghan”





	Patch

**Author's Note:**

> For the one million words MST3K challenge

“Not a patch on Tom Callaghan, he said.” The speaker, and Tom is guessing it’s Guy, who hasn’t been too keen on him since Tom hijacked his patients on the Wara Wara clinic run, sounds highly indignant. He’s also not terribly worried about being overheard if his volume is any indication. “Not a patch!” 

His companion shushes him, sounding more than a little amused. “How dare he?” 

There’s a pause. Then, “I don’t think you’re taking my feelings seriously, Jackie. He hurt me with that remark. Did I mention that I cried?” 

Tom had met Jackie on the same clinic run where he’d met Guy, and she’d seemed quite unperturbed by the other man’s moods. She sounds equally so here, her snort carrying through the walls of the pub. “Oh please. You and your ego.” Her voice is a little louder now, they must be getting closer along the corridor. “I swear, Guy, if you make a scene at the party...”

“Me, make a scene? When have I ever...”

He’s back to indignant again. Jackie still doesn’t care. “Move. We’re going to be late.” 

They continue to bicker as their footsteps and voices fade and Tom finds himself turning his attention to a far more pressing matter, namely the woman in his bed, the love of his life pressed against his side, her lips pressed tightly together to keep back her laughter, her eyes dancing with amusement. He grins down at her, slides one hand down her spine, letting it linger at the small of her back. She arches against him, bringing their lower bodies into closer contact and it’s enough to make Tom forget about anything he was going to say. 

Chris doesn’t appear to have the same problem. “You enjoyed that.” 

He knows what she means but he pretends that he doesn’t, just to see her reaction. “I did,” he says, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her neck, then another. Chris shivers, gooseflesh rippling under his lips but she still pulls back to look him in the eyes. 

And there it is, the look Tom’s been dreaming about for months. Brow furrowed, dancing eyes, lips curled up in a smile, even though he can tell she’s not going to let him away with anything. 

God, he’s missed that look. 

God, he’s missed her. 

“You know what I mean.” She runs a hand up his arm. “The great Doctor Tom Callaghan, beloved of Cooper’s Crossing and the surrounding area... you’d be crushed if they’d forgotten you.” 

Tom squints at her, considers. “I suppose it is nice to be remembered...” he allows and, much like Jackie moments earlier, Chris snorts, even repeats Jackie’s words. 

“You and your ego.” 

She’s teasing him, but Tom is very serious all of a sudden. It’s might have taken a reunion party and a bus crash to get them here, but now that they are, he knows, in a way he hasn’t for a long time, exactly what he wants. And it’s right here, in his arms, in this bed, with this woman. “I don’t care if the whole outback forgets me, Chris,” he says, and he means it. “Apart from one person.” 

His hand moves up to cup her cheek, removing any doubt as to who he means. Not that he thinks she had very many doubts - he’s made himself clear already today, in actions if not words. 

“I’ve never forgotten you,” she tells him. He can hear the tears in her voice, see them in her eyes, and he doesn’t want that. Not here, not now. 

“Come back to the Kimberly with me,” he says. Her eyes widen slightly and he’s a little surprised himself, to tell the truth. It’s not something he’s been planning on asking her, although he’s caught himself up there, on more than one occasion, wishing she was there with him, both as a friend and fellow doctor. They’d worked well together, as well as everything else, clicked personally and professionally in a way that was all too rare. “You hate Melbourne,” he reminds her. “And the work up there... we could really use another pair of hands.” 

The second the words leave his lips, the second he hears how they sound, he wants to take them back. But once more, her lips curl and her eyes dance. “So this is a business offer?” Her arms slide around his neck and he takes the hint, rolls them so that she’s lying fully on her back and he’s looking down at her. 

“No,” is all he says and the smile he gets in response could power the Crossing and surrounding district for a month. Maybe two. 

“Good,” she replies as she pulls him down, bringing their lips together. 

They don’t talk for a while after that, and they are exceedingly late to the party. 

It’s worth every minute.


End file.
